How to Help Oppressed Palestinians?

Question and answer details

Name of Questioner:

Fatimah

Reply date:

2014/07/23

Question:

As-Salamu `alaykum! First, I want to say “May Allah bless you for what you’re doing.” Secondly, I'd like to ask you if there is a way I and others, who feel pain for what the Palestinians are going through, can help our brothers in Palestine. Most Muslims don’t know what else to do but pray. There is no doubt that Allah is capable of everything, but He subhanahu wa ta`laa also told us to be united in the fight against the oppressors.

consultant:

Ahmad Kutty

Answer

Wa`alykum as-salaamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear questioner, thank you for showing keenness on knowing the teachings of Islam, and we appreciate the great confidence you have in us. Thank you also your encouraging words.

It is the duty of every Muslim to help ease the suffering of his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in every part of the world where Muslims are oppressed, especially in Palestine. The least thing a Muslim can do in this regard is to beseech Allah to ease the suffering of his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine and to grant them victory over their enemies.

Responding to the question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following:

As Muslims it is our religious duty to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Palestine, Kashmir and every part of the world; we must also show solidarity with the oppressed in any part of the world regardless of their religious or racial or ethnic affiliations.

When we come to specific ways of translating this solidarity into practical steps, I can classify them into long term and short term measures.

Short term measures:

1. We must offer charities for the relief of the suffering. While doing so it is important to feel the pain and suffering they are going through right now as if we ourselves were being personally hurt.

2. We should recite Qunut An-Nazilah. This is the kind of special prayer recommended in time of calamities and tragedies. As a community we must close our ranks and pray from our hearts for the brothers and sisters who are suffering most terribly; it is our duty to pray to Allah to grant them victory and relief. Qunut An-Nazilah can be recited both individually and collectively. While reciting it collectively, it is best that we choose to read it during Fajr, `Isha' and Jumu`ah Prayers. There are two valid ways of reciting Qunut; it must be done in the last rak`ah, either before going to ruku` after finishing the recitation or after rising from ruku` and saying ‘rabbanaa laka al-hamdu’, and prior to going to prostration; both are perfectly valid options.

O Allah, You alone do we worship; unto You alone we pray, and before You alone we prostrate in worship.

Unto You alone we strive and implore.

We cherish hope in Your mercy; we fear Your chastisement.

Most certainly, Your stern punishment will overtake those who reject the truth.

O Allah, we ask Your help against the aggressive Zionists who have committed crimes (against the oppressed), who have violated the sanctities, and killed, and dispersed the oppressed in Palestine.

O Allah, they cannot overwhelm You.

O Allah, You who are the Lord of the oppressed, Help the oppressed (against their oppressors).

O Allah, show us Your miraculous powers in dealing with them (i.e. the aggressors).

O Allah, make their plans a plan for their destruction.

Make their armies a source of their own defeat.

Make their prison a prison for them.

O Allah, help the oppressed against the oppressors in all parts of the world.

O Allah, have mercy on the Ummah of Muhammad.

O Allah, bring relief to the Ummah of Muhammad.

O Allah, You are the twister of hearts, make our feet steadfast on the path of truth.

O Allah, make us all guides unto truth and make us rightly guided.

O Allah, bless and send peace on Your Prophet and Messenger Muhammad and his entire family and Companions.

Long term efforts:

As for long term efforts, they must include analyzing the reasons for our downfall and despondent state as well as seeking to remove them through concerted and methodical efforts and strategies. We cannot expect our condition to change through erratic, hysterical outbursts; we must become proactive instead of acting out impulsively. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There is no intelligence greater than planning”. Stated differently, we must plan and work out strategies methodically and systematically; let me list a few points in this regard:

1. We must organize our priorities and seek to mobilize the spiritual and intellectual and other resources of the community to strengthen the Ummah and protect it.

2. We must prepare a new generation of trained professionals and experts who would protect us against the misinformation and deliberate cover up and false propaganda in the media.

3. We should reach out to other communities and cooperate with all the peace-loving people, regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations, and work for the cause of truth and justice and fundamental rights of all fellow citizens and human beings.

4. We must recapture the essential universal, ethical values and ideals of Islam and accentuate them, rather than being ossified on dogmas and rituals.

5. The Ummah cannot be mobilized for the higher ideals of Islam so long as the Minbar (the pulpit from where religious speeches are given) remains a dead piece of wood. We must remember that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) trained an entire generation of leaders from the University of Minbar.